If you have a free hour of time and the willingness to slog through some heavy scientific terminology, this interview article with Dr. David Perlmutter, Dr. Beatrice Golomb, and Dr. Steven Sinatra is about the best analysis of statin drug use you are likely to find. Statins are the largest selling category of ethical drugs that are used to reduce cholesterol levels and presumably heart disease. There is reasonably strong scientific evidence that use of statins in patients with existing heart disease is beneficial, but prevailing efforts to extend statin use to all people with “high” cholesterol, would appear to be unwarranted, and in fact, increase all-cause mortality rather than lowering death rates.

If you have high cholesterol, but no existing heart disease, and you are already using or considering use of a statin drug, this article will probably change your thinking. If you are a senior (>70 yrs), high cholesterol has actually been shown to improve mortality, making statin use even less appropriate.